"Ding!"
The boomerang struck the ground near the carriage, and its handle was still trembling at a high frequency.
Everyone's footsteps faltered as they looked at the scenes unfolding around the carriage. They were all staring with incredulity at the dead Purple Golden Mink and the tiny orange kitten.
The mutant Purple Golden Mink was at least a 3rd-tier magic beast, but it had been killed by a tender meow and a gentle tap to the head! Or perhaps it had been frightened to death?
Just what is that little kitten? Everyone was perplexed.
How?! Evan stopped on a tree branch, bewildered as well. He was already prepared to subdue the Purple Golden Mink after it killed the three people in the carriage. In doing so, he could get rid of Mag and his daughter, as well as Eva. On top of that, he would then be able to unleash his true power to intimidate his fellow mercenaries, but those plans had been foiled by a small kitten.
A hint of joy initially appeared on Eva's face at the realization that she had survived, but she then looked at Ugly Duckling and thought back to what she had said, upon which her expression became quite strained.
"Meow-" Ugly Duckling pranced forward and laid its tiny paw on the Purple Golden Mink's head. It then turned back to Amy with a gloating expression as if it wanted to be praised.
"You were awesome, Ugly Duckling!" Amy clapped her little hands with elations before turning to Eva with a smile as she said, "Big Sister Flat-chest, Ugly Duckling caught the big rat. Are you going to eat it now or later?"
"You... I..." Eva's body was trembling with rage. She was the one who had made that bet, so she couldn't even turn Amy down. As such, her face was as red as a tomato from fury and humiliation.
What is that thing? It's definitely not some ordinary orange cat. Could it be some type of primordial mythological beast? But how could it have been picked up by some random guy collecting herbs, then? That's hardly an epic backstory. Mag also wore an expression of surprise on his face. Ugly Duckling was able to frighten a mutant 3rd-tier magic beast to death with just a tender meow. Mag would be an idiot if he still thought it to be just an ordinary fat cat.
However, in his memory, there weren't any powerful magic beasts with the appearance of an orange cat.
In any case, one thing was for sure: the egg that they had purchased back then was actually a treasure.
As for just what this little orange kitten would grow up to become, Mag didn't know the answer himself. However, with the way that it was eating, it was most likely going to become a ball.
The crisis had been dispelled, so Mag removed his hand from the hilt of his blade. He looked at Ugly Duckling, which had rushed over to the carriage wheel and was begging for a hug from Amy. Perhaps it would become a powerful ally of Amy, just like the purple-striped griffin had been to Mag Alex.
Mag carried Amy down from the carriage, while Amy cradled up Ugly Duckling in her arms. She had a serious expression on her little face as she said, "Well done, Ugly Duckling."
"Are you alright?" Sivir pulled her boomerang out of the ground before turning to Mag and the others.
"We're fine. I'm not sure about the girl on the carriage, though." Mag shook his head with a smile as he pointed to Eva, who was still slumped in her seat on the carriage.
"Eva?" Sivir quickly made her way over to Eva with a concerned look.
"I... I'm fine." Eva rose unsteadily to her feet as she shook her head. Her legs were still trembling slightly from residual fear. She had thought that she was going to die here.
However, there was no hint of gratitude in her eyes whatsoever, as she turned to look at Mag and Amy. Instead, her expression harbored a hint of resentment. Why was it that even their kitten could kill a mutant Purple Golden Mink? Was she actually expected to eat the mink raw?
All of the mercenaries also gathered around to appraise Ugly Duckling with amazement in their eyes. It was able to frighten a 3rd-tier magic beast to death even at such a youthful stage of its development; this little thing was most likely the baby of some sort of high-tier magic beast. They wondered how it had ended up becoming Mag and Amy's pet.
"What kind of magic beast is your kitten, Little Amy? It's so powerful?" Dennis stroked his own hair as he looked at Amy with a bashful smile.
Everyone also turned to look at Amy upon hearing that. Even Sivir was quite curious about the orange kitten in Amy's arms.
It was very difficult to encounter the baby of a magic beast, and even more so to find one birthed by a high-tier magic beast. Under normal circumstances, if a magic beast mother were attacked and knew that it wouldn't be able to escape alive, it would kill its babies or destroy the eggs prior to hatching.
This little kitten was very fond of Amy, clearly indicating that it had grown up by her side. Such an affectionate magic beast would surely become the ideal helper of its owner in the future. It had absolute loyalty toward its owner, and was a heavily sought-after companion for everyone.
"It's not a kitten; it's actually a duckling. Also, it's not some magic beast; it's Ugly Duckling," Amy replied with a serious expression.
"Hmm? Ugly Duckling?"
Dennis faltered upon hearing that. No matter how he looked at it, it was clearly a cat that bore no resemblance to a duck whatsoever. Furthermore, it looked quite adorable as well
-in his opinion, it was not ugly in the slightest.
All of the other mercenaries also wore peculiar expressions, unable to keep up with this little girl's thought process. However, it appeared that she didn't even know what magic beasts were, and had most likely always treated this thing as a normal kitten. After all, Mag was only a chef, and even they couldn't identify what kind of magic beast this was, so there was no way Mag could know what it was, either.
"But I can tell you all a secret about Ugly Duckling. You have to promise to keep the secret before I tell you, though." Amy looked at everyone with a mysterious expression.
"Secret?"
All of the mercenaries were intrigued. Could it be that Amy actually knew what this kitten was? Thus, all of them agreed to keep the secret. Even Evan inched closer to them, eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Ugly Duckling is not actually an ordinary duckling..." Amy looked at the intrigued mercenaries and lowered her voice as she continued, "It's actually a little swan. When it grows up, it'll become a beautiful white swan. It'll be able to fly into the sky then."
"Hah?"
All of the mercenaries were dumbstruck on hearing that. First, she was telling them that this kitten was a duckling, and now, she was telling them that it was a swan? No matter how they looked at it, it bore no resemblance to a swan at all!
"Mr. Mag, your pet killed this mutant Purple Golden Mink, so it belongs to you. Its hide can be sold at the mercenary union for a good price." Sivir looked at Mag with a calm smile.
Dennis and the others were feeling quite envious, but they didn't state any objections to Sivir's decision.
Evan stepped forward and argued coldly, "Sivir, we were the ones who engineered everything to trap this Purple Golden Mink. This guy was only lucky; why should we give him such a precious mutant Purple Golden Mink hide?"